But its lousy for Yamaha, they will only have 2 bikes until Rossi starts his team, maybe they might even vanish from motogp like Suzuki did in 2011.

If they decide to wait for Rossi's VR46 Team to be established in 2020, rather than investing resources and money on another satellite team now (which SHOULD have been Tech3 seeing how well Zarco has been performing) they don't deserve anything but that, IMHO.

If they decide to wait for Rossi's VR46 Team to be established in 2020, rather than investing resources and money on another satellite team now (which SHOULD have been Tech3 seeing how well Zarco has been performing) they don't deserve anything but that, IMHO.

I don't think it's a matter of Yamaha investing, they need an existing team to drop their current bike supplier and go to them don't they?

Yes but why would an existing satellite team drop their current bike supplier?

This was my exactly my point - What can Yamaha realistically do now to get an existing team to take their satellite bikes?
Especially is it's very likely it's only going to be a 2-year deal as we know team VR64 are coming in 2020...?

This was my exactly my point - What can Yamaha realistically do now to get an existing team to take their satellite bikes?
Especially is it's very likely it's only going to be a 2-year deal as we know team VR64 are coming in 2020...?

They are in this position because they want to safeguard their beloved Vale. It is my belief that no one will want to be a Yamaha satellite team for 2019 and 20. And honestly Yamaha deserves that.

Ducati and Honda both gave a factory bike to their satellite Teams, respectively to Petrucci and Cal. Yamaha didn't want to create an internal conflict and have their boys beaten by the underdog Zarco, and even before the brand hardly ever seemed to care about Tech3. That's not how you handle your resources IMHO.

It does seem like a no win situation for the a team that picks up the Yamaha for a short time. By the time the riders and team learnt the bike it would almost be time to change manufacturers again.

Not to mention the cost. Factory Yam's and Honda's are expensive to lease, which is why most of the privateer teams traditionally used Ducati's as they were cheaper (presumably because they weren't as quick in days gone by). It's the very reason Gresini, who were Honda's top satellite team, ended up partnering with Aprilia.

The problem Yamaha have now is that any team who wants them is unlikely to be able to afford the price they'll want to lease them (Avintia, Nieto come to mind) and now there is even more choice of bikes available with Suzuki and possibly Aprilia offering customer bikes, there simply won't be the market for Yamaha to command a high price for their bikes.

Lin Jarvis today said that Yamaha is open to offering more than two satellite bikes per year if needed. That’s a confidence boosting move to Nieto/ Avintia/ Marc VDS who are having their meetings with Yamaha this week.

I would prefer that Yamaha do a completely unexpected move. Decide to not offer any satellite bikes for two years and put three satellite bikes on the grid for the next two years, the third bike for Zarco. Honda has done it, so why not Yamaha?

Update: Lin Jarvis also left the door open for at least one factory bike for whoever that takes over Tech 3’s deal in 2019.

If that happens (And Marc VDS is the favorite at the moment), KTM+ Tech 3 are not able to keep Zarco and their project does not progress at the meteoric pace from the first year, Herve Poncharal would have ruined a 20 year relationship for not much upside.